However it was a different story that emerged on Saturday afternoon when Renault provided a Shanghai surprise and locked out the front row of the Chinese Grand Prix grid.

Fernando Alonso was the team’s lead charger and put in a stunning lap to finish the qualifying session with a time of 1:34.080 and on pole position.

Giancarlo Fisichella, the Spaniard’s teammate, fought bravely but fell three tenths short of the top position with a 1:34.401.

The Renault team were nonetheless delighted with the Italian’s performance as he rounded out an impressive one-two finish.

Raikkonen, the man who had topped both the morning practice runs, appeared to struggle with a nervous car and finished four tenths off the pace in third (1:34.488).

To be fair on the Finn, the circuit conditions were tremendously difficult and they caught out a number of drivers.

Previous to the qualifying session a Porsche Supercup race was held and it appeared as though little grip was left on the track by the time the Formula One cars went out to run.

BAR’s Takuma Sato (17th / 1:37.083) was the first of 20 the 20 runners and struggled to keep his car pointing in the right direction. McLaren’s Juan Pablo Montoya (Fifth / 1:35.188) was second and posted an impressive result considering his lock-up into the hairpin.

Jordan’s Tiago Monteiro (19th / 1:39.233) and Williams’ Mark Webber (10th / 1:35.739) followed Montoya’s example while Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher (Sixth / 1:35.301) ran off the circuit at the opening turn.

The stand out drivers were those who managed to make the most of the difficult conditions and tie three strong sectors together.

Alonso was obviously one of those men, along with BAR’s Jenson Button (1:34.801) in fourth, and Red Bull Racing’s David Coulthard (1:35.428) in seventh.

With attention turning to Sunday, McLaren remain short-priced favourites despite the strong Renault showing in qualifying.

Recent history shows the French cars usually run significantly lighter and, although competitive through the opening stint of the race, they struggle to compete with McLaren over the longer distance.

In the midfield battle BAR would appear to have the edge although Red Bull and Ferrari have both looked competitive through practice.

Williams too may have a say in the outcome with Mark Webber’s qualifying position not a true reflection of his outright pace.